Darkening Clouds Sunny Skys
by Sakura245
Summary: Soramaru is abducted by Kabuto. In this new world, he doesn't know where he is and he doesn't know what to do. He is thrown into the dark. Will he find a way to laugh, even in the darkness? This is my 1st fan fiction. I hope you enjoy, please review!
1. Chapter 1

The sky was darkened by clouds. It had been for almost as long as Soramaru could remember. He raced down the steps of the Kumoh shrine. He had a criminal to catch, just another random thug who escaped the incompetent police escort. His head pounded with his steps. _Why have I been feeling so sick lately? _He wondered.

He sighed, Soramaru knew he would have to keep his distance from Nishiki, the unfledged Fuuma girl whom he took in. He also knew that this would mean that she would most likely go crazy with the chores. What would she end up overdoing this time?

He reached the forest near his home where the criminal would most likely be hiding. _If I were a wanted thief, where would I hide?_ He thought to himself. He recalled one time in these same woods when he and Chuutarou were looking for a swordsman together against Tenka's permission. That had only been, what, a month or two ago? So much had changed. Tenka was dead and Chuutarou had last been seen with Kagami. Soramaru forced his thoughts about Tenka from his head. He needed to move on. He had to live in the now.

Soramaru heard a snap of a twig, and followed the noise. As he walked toward the sound he had heard, he pulled his swords from his belt. Three kunai knives suddenly embedded themselves in the ground near his feet. "What the-?!" Soramaru leapt backwards, but felt the dirt fly up and hit his legs. He looked up to see his attacker. Perched on a tree branch, was a man who, Soramaru would guess, was maybe a little older than Takeda. He was tall and had gray hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He wore round glasses and his eyes were a cold and unrelenting onyx color.

Soramaru readied his swords in a defensive stance. "Who are you?" He yelled. The man chuckled. "I am Kabuto Yakushi, and I serve Orochimaru. He is in need of a new test subject. A portal to a different dimension was opened, and I was asked to bring someone back. " Soramaru noticed how this man, Kabuto, seemed so relaxed, but still on edge.

The Kumoh narrowed his eyes. "If you plan on laying a finger on anyone from the land of Shiga- You'll pay! As the 15th head of the Kumoh shrine, I swear I will personally make you regret it!" With those words Kabuto's eyes seemed to spark with a little interest. "My, my, what a title," He began. Kabuto jumped down from his tree and took a step toward Soramaru. "Regret is not an emotion that I'm very prone to. I was sent here to retrieve a test subject and I don't plan on going back empty handed." Kabuto continued to walk closer to Soramaru, he was so calm that it was angering.

Soramaru readied himself in a fighting stance. The ninja kept taking steps closer to him. He didn't even pull out any weapons; he just maintained a fixed stare at Soramaru. Kabuto tilted his head, a curious gesture, one that caught Soramaru a bit off guard. "Do your eyes have any visual prowess? Like the Sharingan? Or the Rinnegan?" The Kumoh did not understand what he meant by that at all. His face must have shown it.

"I've already been around this country, and no one else has the same eyes as you. I'm curious about them. So, I've just decided to take you for Orochimaru's test subject." Before Soramaru could move, Kabuto was behind him, but Soramaru was still able to deliver a blow from his swords to Kabuto's stomach. Kabuto leaped back, looking uninjured.

_What the heck? How can he be fine? I know I got a good hit on his stomach! _With almost lightning fast speed the ninja was behind Soramaru and had jabbed something into the back of his neck. Soramaru jumped forward, startled;he had serious issues with anyone touching his neck. He touch the back of his neck carefully and saw a tiny bit of blood on his fingertips.

This was one of the very few times that Kabuto was surprised. His target was still standing, after that large a dose of tranquilizer! Soramaru charged at Kabuto, and the shinobi took that opportunity to inject Soramaru in the leg. Soramaru took that chance to slice at Kabuto's back.

They continued fighting like this for a while. Eventually, all the doses of tranquilizer forced Soramaru into darkness. He stood for as long as he could, trying not to succumb to the sedative. HIs legs buckled, his head was foggy, and every place he got an injection burned. He made a pathetic whimpering as he crumbled to the ground.

Kabuto exhaled, subduing his target was not as easy as he had thought it would be. He healed a cut that Soramaru's swords had made on his arm. He took a length of rope out of the pouch at his waist and bound Soramaru's wrists and ankles. Then he swung the unconscious teen over his shoulder, and disappeared into the forest. He had marked where the hidden portal was with several kunai. He walked into the bush where it was hidden and left the new world.


	2. Chapter 2

Soramaru's head hurt, more than usual. He didn't want to open his eyes yet, he decided to analyze what had happened. There had been a strange man who had called himself Kabuto, he wanted to take someone from Shiga, they fought, and Soramaru ended up passing out. Now, as far as he could tell, he was tied up, and lying on a cold stone floor. "There's no point in pretending to still be asleep." A voice said, it was Kabuto. Soramaru considered staying down and ignoring his captor, but Kabuto grabbed one of his arms and yanked him into sitting position, hard.

Soramaru winced in pain and opened his eyes. Kabuto was sitting against a stone wall, the light in wherever they were was very dim and it took awhile for Soramaru's eyes to adjust. His wrists and ankles burned from the ropes and his body ached all over. "Where am I?" Soramaru asked, feeling claustrophobic.

"We're in a cave I found. Some leaf ninja were passing by, so I had to take a break in here." Kabuto replied, stretching his arms. Soramaru didn't know exactly what leaf ninja were, but considering that his captor was hiding from them must have meant that, maybe, he could get some help from them.

"I stopped in here about two hours ago; they should be gone by now. I'm going to go check." Kabuto said, getting up. "Oh, stay put, okay?"

Soramaru glared at him,"Shut up." He muttered. Kabuto left the cave. "Great," the Kumoh mumbled to himself,"some guy kidnaps me, takes me to another world, but, hey, look on the bright side he has a sense of humor." He leaned his head back against the stone wall, it was throbbing painfully. How do I get out of this? I might be needed back at home. There could be criminals to catch or Chuutarou could be in danger or, or… He thought of almost a million bad scenarios. Then, the worst thought came to his mind. Goodness knows what Nishiki could be doing! Oh man, what if she cleans the entire house top to bottom? Sure, it'd be nice to have a clean house, but with the way she cleans, her alone in the house is kind of terrifying. The thought of Nishiki spurred him to action.

With difficulty, he scooted himself so that he was facing the cave wall. He began to grate the ropes on his wrists against the rough cave wall. Soramaru skinned his hands in the process, but the ropes finally began to weaken. Just a little more…

He could hear footsteps from the mouth of the cave, and he began to panic. The motions of his arms became more rapid. Almost there… A rough hand grabbed him by the hair and pulled him away from the wall. He was flung to the ground so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. Kabuto stood over him. "Nice try. You almost wore completely through the ropes." He said examining the bindings on Soramaru's wrists. "Still, even if you did get loose, there's not much you could have done. If I didn't recapture you, you would be stuck in a different world with no idea where to go." Soramaru glared at him. The more time he spent around Kabuto, the more he hated him.

"It's time we were off, now." Kabuto remarked, hitting a pressure point on Soramaru's neck. Once again, the Kumoh's world fell into blackness


	3. Chapter 3

Soramaru's eyes struggled to open. His hands and feet weren't bound this time. They floated almost freely, wait, floated? Spurred by his panic Soramaru forced his eyes to open.

He was submerged in water. Oh no! I'm going to drown! Soramaru thought frantically. He thrashed around. He wasn't getting anywhere, in his thrashing, his hand hit glass, hard. He stopped, his hand hurt a lot. It was then that he could really tell where he was.

He was inside a cylindrical tank full of water, but he could breath thanks to a clear mask that covered his whole face. Soramaru looked around the room, it had another tank in it, but the tank was empty. He looked back to his hand, it probably wasn't broken. He would most likely have some bruising on his knuckles though. He had sustained worst injuries from Tenka.

Tenka. The thought of his brother made him feel weaker than he already was, emotionally. No don't think about him, not now. I can't start crying.

"Hey!" A voice said. Soramaru lifted his head and looked around again. No one was there, he was the only one. So, who could have said it? He shrugged, it must have been his imagination. "Hey!" The voice called again. Soramaru could here where the voice was coming from, the empty tank. "Who's there?" The Kumoh responded carefully.

"My name is Suigetsu. I've been here for about two years; it's new to see someone other than Orochimaru or Kabuto. So, how did you get here?" Although he was surprised Soramaru was grateful for the somewhat friendly company. "I'm Soramaru. That guy, Kabuto, just showed up, fought me, and here I am. How did you get here? And I have to ask, are you invisible?" Soramaru could hear Suigetsu laughing a little. Was one of his questions that funny? When Suigetsu was done laughing he said,"Well, how I got here was a bit of a blur, I'm pretty sure Orochimaru used a genjutsu or something. To answer your second question, I'm not invisible. I turn into a kind of water. So, I blend in. Oh, wait a sec."

A face with violet eyes, sharp teeth and white hair appeared. Soramaru snapped backwards in shock. "You're a Fuuma?!" The face looked confused and then disappeared."I don't know what a Fuuma is, so I'm just gonna say that I am not a Fuuma."

Soramaru decided to get serious with this conversation. "Why are we here, anyway?

"We're here because of Orochimaru. He looks for powerful individuals and experiments on them. I've been here for about two years. You never totally get used to this place." Soramaru looked around the dank room and cramped tank. He couldn't imagine having to live here for two years. "I'm glad they brought someone new here."Suigetsu continued.

"Why would you ever hope for someone to have to live through this?!" Soramaru said, letting the anger slip into his voice. Although he could not disagree with his new roomate. With no one to talk to or laugh with or anything, life in a hydro tank would be boring, lonely, and unbearable. He already could sense that he and Suigetsu would never become good friends or anything along those lines, but at the moment Soramaru was grateful to have Suigetsu's company


	4. Chapter 4

Soramaru got to know Suigetsu a bit. He learned things like, where Suigetsu was from, the people he knew, and what he had gone through in Orochimaru's labs. He never seemed to shut up, but Soramaru was grateful for a little distraction.

"So anyway," Suigetsu said continuing with his story. "There I was, completely stuck in quicksand. So, then I-" His possibly inflated story was interrupted by footsteps approaching them. This was the first time in the three hours that Soramaru had been there that Suigetsu had stopped talking.

Kabuto and a man with long black hair and snake like eyes stood before Soramaru's tank. The man with the long hair looked intensely at Soramaru's eyes. He felt hypnotized, like how birds are when they stare into a snake's eyes before they are devoured. "You were not exaggerating, Kabuto. His eyes are very strange." Soramaru wanted to hide, he wanted to be home. He wished so deeply that this whole thing was a dream. "Prep him. I want to experiment on him in an hour." With that the man with the snake eyes turned and left.

Kabuto smiled, it was not a pleasant smile."Congratulations." He said. "Normally Orochimaru takes his time before deciding to experiment." He pressed a button on a dial pad that was five feet away from Soramaru's tank and the water began to drain. When it was gone, Soramaru was left standing on shaky legs at the bottom of the tank. Kabuto pressed another button and the glass around Soramaru rose.

Before Soramaru could even think about attempting to escape again, Kabuto was at his side gripping his arm tightly. He half dragged Soramaru down a labyrinth of hallways. They finally reached a small, dark room that only had a surgical table in it. Kabuto shoved him into the cold, metal table. Soramaru had finally begun to piece together what was going on. He began to struggle as Kabuto was attempting to strap him onto the table. Soramaru's muscles felt as though they weren't responding correctly. That didn't stop him from attempting to fight off Kabuto.

Soramaru was easily subdued. Kabuto had some difficulty in pinning down Soramaru's writhing body. "Would you calm down?" Kabuto said out of gritted teeth as he strapped a thick strip of velcro over Soramaru's torso, pinning his arms down to his sides. Soramaru still tried to break free, but it was no use. He was trapped.

He laid on the cold, hard table. His struggle had left him out of breath and even more defenseless. Soramaru stared at the ceiling while Kabuto prepared scalpels and other sharp objects on small trays that surrounded the table. He was scared, but he steeled himself and refused to let his fear show.

The man whom Soramaru guessed was Orochimaru walked into the room a little while later. Just his presence sent a chill down Soramaru's spine. He talked with Kabuto for a bit. Soramaru didn't understand a majority of the words they used, and when he could understand what they were talking about he could only really pick out bits and pieces. He heard them say things like," 15th head." Or, " Why would the pupils be white?" Or, " 4 doses." When he could understand their words clearly, the first thing he heard was,"Let's start with his eyes then, shall we?"

He squeezed his eyes shut. Footsteps grew louder until they stopped, and he knew that Kabuto and Orochimaru were standing beside his table. "Come on," Kabuto's voice said, "Make it easier for everyone and open your eyes." Soramaru refused, and to make things more difficult for his captors, he turned his face away belligerently. Kabuto made a frustrated sound, and grabbed Soramaru's chin, forcing him to face upward. The Kumoh fought. He shook his head wildly and bit the air. Kabuto's hand gripped Soramaru's chin and Kabuto squeezed with a crushing force. Soramaru stopped fighting, he felt like his jaw was beginning to break.

Kabuto kept one hand on Soramaru's jaw, holding his head in place. With his other hand, he pried the teen's left eye open. "Alright, I've got him stable. You can start now." Soramaru saw a blurry image of Orochimaru bringing a needle like tool closer and closer to his forced open eye. It made contact, and it seemed to burn. Soramaru screamed, but Orochimaru is relentless and merciless. He brushed the tool against Soramaru's eye repeatedly. Each second brought on a new wave of pain over his entire body. After what seemed like hours, he stopped.

Soramaru moaned, his eye was watering and it felt dry and burned from being open for so long. Orochimaru and Kabuto, however, were not finished with him. "I'm going to analyze his eye cells. Get me a blood sample and inject some supplements into him. He's only been here for a day, but we don't know the last time he's eaten. I don't want him dying on us." Orochimaru left, leaving Soramaru with Kabuto.

Kabuto was efficient in his work. He used a different restraint on the surgical table to hold down one of Soramaru's arms. Then, he undid the velcro strap so one of Soramaru's arms was free. He grabbed Soramaru's free arm and positioned the needle for where it was to go in, but once again Soramaru fought. He swung his arm violently, but Kabuto easily pinned his arm down and inserted the needle.

Soramaru wasn't squeamish, but the sight of his blood draining out of him and going into a container made him feel dizzy, sick, hot,and cold at the same time. He gritted his teeth as he felt faint. I don't know which I'm gonna do, faint or throw up. He thought. "Hey," He said hoarsely. "Isn't this a little bit excessive for a blood sample." Kabuto ignored his comment. When the container was full, Kabuto stuck another needle into the same place as the first. This time he injected something. Soramaru inhaled sharply, this needle left a burning sensation in his arm. He didn't fight back this time; he had lost too much blood to do anything.

Finally, all of the restraints were released, and Soramaru was yanked into sitting position. He barely had the strength to hold himself up. Kabuto dragged him off the table and down the hallways. He put Soramaru back in the tank and left. I hate this. This place is worst than Gokumonjo. I need to get out of here. As far as he could tell, escape was impossible. What would Tenka want me to do? He pondered that question for a little bit and his mind returned to some of Tenka's last words. Laugh!

He wasn't sure yet how to laugh in a place like this, but he would refuse to cry.


	5. Chapter 5

Time was hard to track. Between getting experimented on and being stuck in a tank, Soramaru made little to no effort to keep a record. Some days he was taken in to have his cells examined or he was injected with different solutions, other days he was left with Suigetsu.

"Hey!" Suigetsu said one day. "What's your life story?" Soramaru was caught off guard by the question, Suigetsu did most of the talking. "Why would you want to know my life story?" He replied, sounding bored.

"I'm kinda tired of hearing my own voice. I also have a sore throat today so… Yeah." He told an abridged version of his life story to Suigetsu, leaving out the details on Tenka's death, his parents' deaths, and his issues with his neck being touched . "And then I passed out and that's the last I saw of Shiga." He finished. It felt both good and strange to tell Suigetsu all of that. "So, I'm just wondering about the ninja girl you took in, what was her name? Niki?"

"Nishiki." Soramaru corrected. "What are you wondering about with her?"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Soramaru reacted with stammering and blushing. He had only really known Nishiki for a week, and even then he never got that close with her. Then again, he did like her, a lot. After all, she was the one who helped him smile after Tenka had died. "No, why would you think that she's my girlfriend?"

"Don't know, you just smiled a bit when you talked about her. But anyway, if she's not taken, could you set me up with her?" That caught Soramaru even more off guard.

"NO!"

"Why not? You said you're not dating her, and she sounds interesting. I mean, you said that half her hair is white, and her eyes are two different colors. I kinda really want to meet her."

"I have more than one reason for why I could not set you two up… A) Based on the stories you told me, I really wouldn't trust you near my hometown. B) I'm not sure how well it would work out, she doesn't have much experience with people. C) I highly doubt someone will just let us out of this place just so you can find a girlfriend!" Suigetsu sighed, " I guess you have a point there, but be honest, I can tell that you have a crush on her."

Soramaru responded with more blushing and stammering. When he really thought about it, he did have a thing for Nishiki. He still denied it. Suigetsu continued to pry, "I mean, we don't know if she likes you at all, but I can tell that there's something in her that you're really attracted to." I don't think I like her that way, not yet, at least. When Soramaru came to terms with reality, he remembered that he might not ever see her again. That thought made him sad, he would have liked to get to know her more.

"If you were never really interested in her then why did you take her in?" Suigetsu questioned. There was a question that Soramaru could answer steadily. "Because, she needed help, and I could help her. I would never be able to forgive myself if I just left her dying at the side of the road. Besides, that was how we got Shirasu in our family. Tenka would have helped her." Suigetsu considered Soramaru's words and decided to ask a serious question. Gone was the teasing tone of voice when he said,"Your brother, Tenka, seemed like a really great guy. I know you won't want to talk about this, but I'm curious, what were his last words." Soramaru bit his lip at the memory of the day that Tenka had died and left an order for him and Chuutarou. Then he finally spoke his answer. "He told us to laugh."

**Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Soramaru coughed hard as Kabuto raised the glass of his tank. His throat had been hurting for the past few days, and his body ached, more than usual. He had been held captive for a while now, and had still not given up on fighting.

Kabuto repeated the normal drill with Soramaru, releasing him and getting a tight grip on him before he could gain the stability needed to escape. Soramaru coughed the whole way there. Kabuto looked at him nervously when he coughed. It was not a caring sort of look. Orochimaru had mentioned that Soramaru was a rare specimen from a different dimension and that he did not want him were a number of deadly diseases that started with coughing.

When they reached the experiment room, instead of going through the routine of fighting Soramaru to get him onto the table, he simply cut to the chase by punching Soramaru in the stomach, hard. Soramaru doubled over, gagging. Kabuto used that opportunity to lift and strap him onto the table.

When Soramaru recovered, he glared at Kabuto. "If punching me in the stomach worked so well, why didn't you just do that for the last twenty times." Soramaru said angrily. To his surprise, Kabuto actually responded,"If I did it too often, it would tear apart your internal organs, and a test subject would be lost." He slapped a hand on Soramaru's forehead, when Soramaru resisted, he pushed his hand onto Soramaru's head, making him yelp in pain. "No fever." Kabuto said to himself.

Next, he stuck two fingers on the boy's neck to find a pulse, but when his fingers just brushed Soramaru's neck, he flinched. Kabuto ignored Soramaru's discomfort and felt the side of his neck. Soramaru's breathing got shallow and he started to panic. This behavior surprised Kabuto, he knew that Soramaru would fight him, but this was different.

Kabuto evaluated that Soramaru would have to get more vitamin C in his daily supplements. When Kabuto turned back to Soramaru, he was breathing normally. Kabuto filled a syringe with a vitamin C supplement, and being the person he was, rather than injecting it into Soramaru's wrist, he injected it into his neck. Soramaru gritted his teeth, hard.

**Hi! Sorry about two filler chapters in a row! The next one will move the story along a bit. Anywho, thanks for reading this. I would really like to know what you think. Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Kabuto was beginning to recognize that there was nothing particularly special about Soramaru. Despite his strange looking eyes there was nothing very remarkable about him. He didn't have a healing factor. He couldn't even infuse chacra to cast a jutsu. After one more day of examination, Orochimaru had planned to just use him as a common test subject.

Kabuto walked into the room with Soramaru's tank in it earlier than usual. Soramaru was asleep, letting all his muscles relax in the water. That's when Kabuto saw it. On Soramaru's stomach was a small patch of black scales. They were like a snake's. Kabuto ran out of the room to tell Orochimaru.

"Soramaru! Hey, Soramaru!"Suigetsu called from his tank. Soramaru opened his eyes with difficulty. He was groggy due to an experiment on Suigetsu the day before which involved the effects of sugar on him. Suigetsu was high on sugar for hours and barely left Soramaru any time to sleep. "Shut up." Soramaru muttered. Suigetsu was indignant of being brushed off. "Fine," He said, "Let them cut you open, see if I care." Soramaru curled up a little in attempt to sleep again.

Kabuto strided through the door with Orochimaru behind him. He jabbed the buttons to release Soramaru, who fell on the floor in response. He started to protest, but was interrupted by a flurry of big words and excited chatter. He didn't understand what was going on at all. He would have run or have done something, but it always took some time for his body to get used to the change of his surroundings. Before he could really move, Kabuto had flung him over his shoulder and was briskly carrying him to a different room.

He was strapped to a surgical table before he could actually process anything. This room was different from the one he was normally in. Kabuto left him there, and returned soon, wearing a mask, gloves, and wielding a scalpel. Soramaru shrunk back a bit, as much as he could anyway. Orochimaru was there too now. Same attire as Kabuto.

The pain started with a damp rag covering Soramaru face. It smelled like chemicals and made his lungs burn. His eyes watered. It made his body go numb, until the cutting started. He felt a cutting sensation in his stomach area. It was worst than all of the injections and all of the experiments combined. It both cut and burned. He didn't have a gag in his mouth, but the rag over his face served as one and muffled his crys. He could feel hot blood spill over his torso. It felt more like acid, burning into his skin. He bit his lip to keep from screaming, but his teeth dug into his lower lip, drawing more blood. His screams never stopped. They kept ringing out.

Finally, it was over. Soramaru was breathing hard and everything hurt. He was ignored as Kabuto and Orochimaru conversed. They examined the scales that they had taken from Soramaru, eagerly. The scales were black and had a sharpness along th edges. "What do we do with him now?" Kabuto asked.

"Keep him in an isolated tank, in an isolated room. We may not need him for awhile, but just in case. Just keep him alive." Kabuto followed orders and healed the surgical wound on Soramaru's stomach in a rush. His healing brought on more pain. Soramaru was breathing heavily, his eyes were closed, and he was weak from blood loss. Kabuto tore the rag from his face. Seeing the boy's condition, he knew that he couldn't carry him like he normally did. He pulled a wheelchair from a closet and managed to get Soramaru's lifeless body into it. He did not bother strapping him down, he most likely wouldn't be able to try anything this time.

When he got to the new room, he strapped the breathing mask onto Soramaru's face and let the tank fill with water. Kabuto programmed a small electronic syringe to inject Soramaru with supplements daily. And there he left him.

When Soramaru came to a bit, he cringed at the wound on his stomach. He was not sure what exactly had happened. Just what I need, more memory problems. He thought unhappily. He then noticed a silence. Where was Suigetsu? He finally noticed some differences that he had overlooked. The room was different, this tank was bigger, and it was completely isolated. He was alone. The voice that he had endured endlessly for however long he had been there was gone. Instantly, his loneliness consumed him. There was no room for relief of being rid of Suigetsu's idle chatter.

He had never been alone before, not really. He had always had Tenka, Shirasu, and Chuutarou. Gokumonjo had been his first encounter with loneliness. Here, he had no one

**Hey! So that was one of my darker chapters... Thank you for reading! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Soramaru was unsure of how long he'd been in the tank. Kabuto never came and a small syringe always moved on its own to inject him. He hated this, the loneliness, it was almost worst than all of the experiment that he had gone through.

One day, when the thing gave him an injection, it felt different somehow. He realized later that he was hungry. He had not felt something like hunger in a long time, for he was always given injections that too the place of food. He understood what that meant, no one was taking care of the system. He would starve here, alone.

2 days later, near the Hidden leaf village.

Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi leapt from tree to tree. After hearing the news about Orochimaru's death, Tsunade sent them to go and raid one of his labs. It was an attempt to find out secrets that he had hidden, to get a clue where Kabuto had gone (he was still a serious threat), and to get closer to finding Sasuke. However, they had to focus on the first two reasons first. As ninja they couldn't put their own personal situation before the mission.

When they arrived at the hideout, Naruto felt a small pull. It was a weird feeling, and something was off. "Naruto," Sakura said looking at the focused look on his face."Are you okay?" Naruto snapped out of his own thoughts. Sakura knew he would be focused on this mission, but the face that he just wore seemed different from how he normally acted. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I felt like something was off here."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Naruto, we're in one of Orochimaru's labs, I think everything is off here." Naruto nodded, but returned to his thoughts. The pull that he felt reminded him of how he felt when he first met Gaara. Was there a jinchuriki here?

"Well, let's split up." Kakashi instructed. Naruto focused in on his instincts. He followed where this sensation led him.

Back with Soramaru

He doubled over in pain. His hunger had been searing into him for 3 days. Soramaru was lightheaded and weak. He chewed on the inside of his cheek in attempts to ease the hunger pangs, but that trick stopped working on his second day without food.

Something else was off too. He could feel it the mask that he always wore felt too tight and too small. He was losing air. Less and less oxygen entered his lungs with every breath he took. He could feel it, he took a deep breath, knowing it was most likely his last. The mask slipped off and he was left holding his breath, desperately hanging onto life.

With Naruto

Naruto was running now. He could sense urgency. The pull he felt in his gut was stronger.

He reached a locked door, he had to get inside. He made a shadow clone and formed a rasengan. It tore apart the door in his way. All that occupied the room was a hydro tank with a drowning boy in it. The boy only wore white boxer shorts and he had his eyes squeezed shut as if blocking out the rushed to the tank. He had to find a way to break it.

Soramaru's POV

Soramaru was only aware of his lungs burning to contain air. He could feel the water closing in around him, it felt like the water was crushing him. He cried out in distress, although it would do nothing. He kept his eyes shut, he didn't want this place to be the last thing he saw. So, he imagined Tenka, Chuutarou, Shirasu, Nishiki. He held onto their faces as he struggled. Tenka, I guess I'll be joining you now. Shirasu, please find Chuutarou and take care of Nishiki. I love you all.

His body slowed down in its thrashing. Behind his eyelids, he saw a blazing blue he felt an impact, it threw him back. Something sharp cut into his arms. He inhaled sharply. Inhaled! He could breath again! He opened his eyes, barely. The sudden blast and the loss of blood dragged him to unconsciousness.

The last thing he could process was a boy, around his age with spiky blond hair and whisker marks. He had a panicked look on his face, and he was yelling, "Sakura, Sai, Kakashi sensei. Help! I found someone! He needs help!" Slowly, Soramaru's eyes closed and he drifted off.

**Hey! So I'm really happy I got to this chapter. I feel like this story could use a change of scenery. Thank you to everyone who is reading this... Please Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi rushed in when they heard Naruto's shouts. They found him sitting on the floor, holding a raven haired boy. Sakura was the first to respond, "Sai, Sensei, go find a blanket or towel." They were out of the room, following her orders in moments. "Let me see."She said kneeling next to Naruto. She did a primary assessment of the boy. She didn't want to start any kind of treatment until she could analyze his condition completely.

"Was he like this when you found him?" She asked prodding at a large cut on the boy's stomach area. "Well, not really. He was drowning." Sakura brushed the boy's bangs to the side to see if he had any head wounds. "I assume you used Rasengan to get him out." She said turning to look at the shattered remains of the tank.

Kakashi and Sai returned soon with armfuls of dusty blankets. She did her best to beat the dust out before spreading a few out on the floor. "Okay, Naruto, lay him down here." She said, gesturing to a gray blanket on the ground. With difficulty, Naruto shifted the boy onto the blanket.

"How did you find this room, Naruto?" Sai asked.

"What do you mean? I just walked into it." Sai shook his head.

"This chamber was by far the most secluded and hardest to doesn't really make sense that you found it." Naruto hadn't considered this area secluded at all, he had found it easily. Then he noticed Sai's stress on the word "you". "Wait, what do you mean it doesn't make sense how I found it?"

Sai looked away. "Nothing."

"He has a point, it took me a while to find this room. Maybe it was just luck that you found this room." Sakura said pressing a stethoscope to the boy's chest. Naruto ignored the stress on "you". "Will he be okay?" Naruto asked. Sakura pursed her lips as she examined the boy's cuts. "He's probably in a coma now. He has some serious cuts, and there's a large gash on his stomach that was not properly treated. He needs intense treatment, soon." Naruto nodded, he wanted this guy to live, he knew that he had sensed something when he had walked into this lab.

"Okay, so can you treat him now?" Kakashi asked. Sakura shook her head, frowning. She sighed, "I don't want to treat him here. This place is crawling with dust mites and germs. He could get infected if I helped him here." Naruto nodded. "We need to get him to the Leaf if we want to treat him." Sakura said.

Sakura bandaged the boy's torso and his arms. She slipped her arms under the blanket and picked the boy up. Kakashi had volunteered to carry him. They had to tie his hands, just because of protocol. "Is that really necessary?" Naruto had asked. Kakashi sighed," Yes, we have to do this. This boy was found in an enemy compound; we don't know who he is."

"Wait," Sai said, "We need some information on this place. I doubt the Hokage would be very pleased if all we had to show for this mission was an injured boy." Sakura agreed, she pulled a few small vials out of her pouch. She dipped them into the shallow remains of water in the tank. It was tinted red because of the boy's blood. "This wasn't just water." She said holding it up. "I can tell by his condition that this liquid is special, it help preserve him for so long. This could be an advancement in the medical field."

They began to depart. "Oh yeah," Sakura said remembering something. "Orochimaru may have kept files on this boy. I found a room full of files when we came in. Some records would help a lot." She found a number on the tank that they found the young man in. She memorized the number and brought Sai to the file room. They found the file with the number on it first. It was in a drawer next to a bag with different looking clothes in it and two swords in decorated sheaths. They took everything. They also took as many important looking files as they could carry.

**Hey! So, I just want to thank every one for reading this. I seriously want some feedback. Please Review!**

Soramaru didn't wake up enough to open his eyes, at first. He could feel that he was being carried. His hands were tied again, that's what he assumed at least. When he did manage to open his eyes a tiny bit, everything was blazingly bright. He could see gray hair. Kabuto! He thought, but he quickly dismissed it. The way he was being carried was not how Kabuto would ever carry him. This way kind of reminded him of Tenka. With the thought of Tenka, he lost conscience again.


	10. Chapter 10

Soramaru slept for two days. When he finally woke up, he could hear voices, there was a girl's voice and the voice of the guy who got him out of the tank. "-fill out a report." Said the girl's voice. Soramaru kept his eyes shut. He needed to find out where he was. "Okay." The boy's voice said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Hair color?" The girl's voice.

"Black with red streaks." The boy's voice.

The sound of a pen on paper.

"Eye color?"

"Umm… he actually had kind of strange eyes."

"What do you mean? His eyes were rolled in when I did an assessment. I couldn't see his irises. What did they look like?" No! Not the eyes again! Soramaru thought, remembering his first day of being experimented on.

"Well, I've never seen eyes like them before. The colored part was black and the middle part was white." The boy's voice remarked.

"Huh. I'll just put down 'iris: black, pupils: white.'"

They went over various things, such as height, weight, and estimated age. Soramaru stayed still the entire time. He was scared of what was going to happen. Were these people like Orochimaru and Kabuto? Would they experiment on him the second he opened his eyes? Paranoia crept into his mind, and he decide to stay put and pick up what he could from listening.

"Okay, that's taken care of." The girl said, sounding relieved. Soramaru kept still, he was waiting for them to say more so he could understand a bit more of what was happening. "Hey, Sakura." The boy's voice said. "Is he going to be okay? I mean, he's been out for two days." The girl, Sakura, sighed, she sounded a little annoyed, like she had to repeat herself. "I've already told you, Naruto. I think he's going to be fine. I admit the gash on his stomach was hard to fix, but I know I did it right. Yes, he's been out for awhile, but not everyone has your superhuman healing abilities. In any case, he'll wake up when he wakes up."Soramaru's paranoia melted away a bit with that last line. They weren't going to rush him on waking.

Naruto sighed, "If you say so. Wanna go get raman?"

"Sure," The Sakura replied. "I have some stuff to take care of. Go on without me, I'll catch up." Soramaru could hear Naruto's footsteps leave the room. He was left with Sakura. Soramaru was still only relying on his hearing to tell what was going on, it was exhausting. "Hey," Sakura said, her voice was a hushed whisper next to him. It took all of his self control not jump from surprise. "I know you're awake." How do these people do that?! It's kind of really scary! He thought. "I understand if you don't trust us. Whatever you went through in that lab must have been hellish." Soramaru was grateful that she didn't try to encourage him to open his eyes by stroking his hair or patting his shoulder or anything. Being touched would just give him anxiety right now. "They were our enemies. Kabuto is missing now and Orochimaru was killed by Sasuke." Her voice caught on that last word. "But, anyway," She continued gently,with regained composure. "We're not like them. I promise, you can trust us." With that she left. A lock slid into place from the outside of the room. He was locked in, did that mean he was a prisoner again?

Soramaru laid there still. He felt drained and didn't feel like moving at all. Maybe, he could trust these people. When he thought about it, the lock on the door was to be expected, he was an outsider after all. In his opinion, a locked room was a million times better than a hydro tank or surgical table.

_Maybe, that girl, Sakura, was telling the truth._ He decided, he would trust them. Naruto had saved him from drowning, he remembered that well enough. These people were Kabuto and Orochimaru's enemies that could work in his favor. Above all, the gentle nature that they carried kind of reminded him of his brothers. With his home in his mind, he drifted off to sleep. 

**Hey! Sorry about repeating the same part. Computers hate me some days. So anyway thank you for reading this. Please Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

_Tenka walked away without looking back. His hair and clothes swayed in the breeze. He kept walking toward the gallows until he was out of sight. Soramaru knew what was going to happen to him, he had seen this all before. But something was off, the eldest Kumoh brother kept walking, he wouldn't turn back no matter how much Soramaru and Chuutarou cried and called out to him. "You can't go...TENKA!" Soramaru screamed_.

"TENKA!" Soramaru yelled, waking up, bolting upright in his bed. He inhaled sharply. His stomach burned and ached when he moved. It was bandaged up, and altogether, it looked kind of severe. His breathing was heavy as he tried to recover from the nightmare that had already happened. He looked down to see his hands tied. He didn't struggle against the ropes.

He took in his surroundings. The room wasn't brightly lit, but it wasn't dark like the labs. It had the perfect light for sleeping. The walls were painted a soothing peach color. There was a nightstand next to his bed. Soramaru looked down to see that he was now wearing a tan shirt and matching pants, they were comfortable.

Two people burst through the door, and a light turned on, brightening the room. A girl with short pink hair and green eyes, and the boy who saved him back in Orochimaru's lab. "Oh, you're up." The girl said. Soramaru remembered her voice from the day before. She was Sakura. "Hi, how you doing?" Naruto said. Soramaru could recognize his voice. "I'm okay."He responded "Umm.. where exactly am I?"

"We found you in Orochimaru's lab." Sakura said, kind of recapping her last encounter with Soramaru. "You were drowning, and had some serious wounds. Now you're in the hidden leaf village." Soramaru could vaguely remember Kabuto hiding from leaf ninja. Were these people leaf ninja? "I'm Naruto and this is Sakura." Naruto said. He had a constant happiness to him, and Soramaru could gather that just from being in the same room with him for thirty seconds. It reminded him of Tenka, how he always smiled. How he always laughed, even under the clouds. " I know, I was kind of awake when you guys were talking yesterday."

Naruto looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by Soramaru's stomach growling. "When's the last time you've eaten?" Sakura asked. Soramaru shrugged. "I never ate anything at all when I was in there." He held up his hands for some emphasis, and remembered that they were tied. "Um.. why are my hands tied?"He asked.

"Oh! Right, sorry about the restraints!" Sakura said apologetically, "We didn't know who you were, and for all we knew, you could weave a sign that would cause an explosion or something." Weave a sign? What?

Sakura brought him some food and tea. It wasn't much, but Soramaru was thrilled to actually eat something. "What's your name?" Naruto asked when Soramaru had finished eating. "Soramaru." He answered. When Naruto asked where he was from, he hoped that "another dimension" didn't sound weird and just told the truth. "So, are you a ninja?" Naruto asked. Soramaru shook his head. "I've lived with two ninjas though, does that count for anything?" Naruto shrugged.

Eventually Naruto asked for information. Soramaru sighed. "If I had any information on Kabuto or Orochimaru, I would tell you everything. I actually wish I had information to tell you." Now Naruto sighed.

"Look," he said seriously. "You're supposed to be interrogated, because of where we found you and all. If you tell the truth, you'll be fine. If not, it was nice knowing you." Soramaru nodded, it was a lot to take in. There was nothing he had reason to lie about. "When is it gonna start?" He asked

"Now." Naruto responded. "We just need you to tell us everything you know about Orochimaru and Kabuto." Soramaru thought about this, so he explained every part of his awful experience with Kabuto. He started with getting kidnapped and ended with his isolated tank. Sakura wrote down every word he said.

"So are we done?" He asked, shifting in his hospital bed. Sakura shook her head and put her clipboard down. "There are two parts of interrogation here. We just finished the first, in the second, we see if you were telling the truth or not." Soramaru was about to ask how they could tell if he was telling the truth. "There's a division that can look through your memories." That idea freaked Soramaru out a bit, but he nodded.

Suddenly, he noticed something that he hadn't before. This room had a window, it was covered by curtain, but he could see a radiant light peaking through. It wasn't dull like how he was used to back home, it was so bright. On impulse, he got out of bed and tried to walk towards it. He nearly face planted, due to not using his legs in such a long time. Luckily, Naruto caught him before he fell. "What is it?" Naruto asked. Soramaru kept making his way to the window. He finally made it and pulled back the curtain, and for the first time in ten years, he saw the sun.


	12. Chapter 12

Soramaru's hands were tied again, but he didn't really mind. Naruto was escorting him to the place of his second interrogation. It was a bright, sunny day, and the sun filled him with a new energy. His leg grew stronger quickly, and he was able to walk normally again.

The idea of someone sifting through his memories scared him a little, but he had told the truth, so he was mostly calm about doing this. When they finally got to the building, Naruto handed a man the papers that Sakura had written out and left. Soramaru was led into a gray, windowless room. He had to kneel down into a strange dome thing that closed around him, leaving only his head outside of it.

A man with a blond ponytail put a hand on Soramaru's head. He could feel the man enter his mind and pull out memories, mainly the ones from the lab. When it was finally over, Soramaru was released. "So, looks like you were telling the truth. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village." Naruto said upon returning.

Laying around wasn't an activity that Soramaru particlularly enjoyed participating in, but after being locked up in a lab for who knows how long, he let himself relax. Soramaru was laying in the grass, his arms spread wide, his eyes blissfully closed. Just lying down, bathed in sunshine. Naruto had let him do what he wanted, and sat still against a tree for as long as he could. He lasted ten minutes. Naruto's shadow was cast over Soramaru. Naruto nudged him gently in the hip with his foot. "You having fun there?" He asked, he had a slight teasing note to his voice, but not enough to really get to Soramaru. "Yes!" He responded. "Where I'm from, I haven't seen the sun in ten years." Naruto frowned, a world like that seemed beyond depressing.

"What's it like, where you're from?" He asked. Soramaru sat up, his abdominal muscles still ached. "Is this more interrogation?" He asked, nervously. Naruto shook his head and plopped down next to him. "I'm just wondering, did you live underground or something?" Soramaru couldn't help but smile a little. "Not underground," He said, "Just under clouds."

Soramaru told Naruto about where he was from, his home, the family shrine, the local town, the imposing prison in the middle of the lake. He mentioned his brothers, but didn't feel completely up to talking about them yet. "It sounds really nice!" Naruto said when Soramaru was done talking. He was right, and homesickness hit Soramaru at full force.

He had just described the ferry that he and Chuutarou used to push to get criminals to Gokumonjo, it had never been a cheery job, but suddenly, he missed it. Tenka had been alive then, he would have done anything to his old way of life back. He may have taken on the title of head of the family line, and he may have been ready for it, but he wanted Tenka to take it back.

The day was over just as fast as it had learned a bit about his surroundings. He already knew Sakura, but had gotten to know her better. From what he could understand, she was a medical ninja and had been training under the hokage, the leader of this village, for about three years. He liked her, she seemed nice, until she hit Naruto over the head when he had joked about something. After that, she scared him a little.

He met Sai, who was socially awkward, but friendly. For some reason he had this obsession with nicknames. Soramaru rejected pretty much all of Sai's suggestions. He ended up letting Sai call him Sora. Soramaru didn't mind, but the name brought back some memories. Being called that he was reminded of Chuutarou a little.

He met Kakashi, who turned out to be Sakura and Naruto's sensei. He always had his nose buried in a book with a mildly indecent looking cover. According to Naruto and Sakura, he always wore a mask that hid most of his face. "So, why does he wear a mask?" Soramaru had questioned while Naruto and Sakura escorted him back to his hospital room. "No one really knows." They said at the same time. "And you don't know what's under it?" He persisted. Sakura sighed, "We got him to take it off once." Soramaru felt some of his excitement rise, "So, what was under it?!" Now Naruto sighed and looked tired. "Nothing but another mask." Soramaru's confusion and disappointment were immense.

He liked all the people that he had met, they were kind and all of them were a bit quirky. They all really reminded him of Tenka. He liked this village, a lot, but more than ever, he really wanted to go home.

Soramaru slept in the hospital that night. As far as he knew he would sleep there every night. The room was cozy, so he didn't mind too much


	13. Chapter 13

Soramaru thrashed around in his sleep. This time his nightmare concerned Chuutarou. _His younger brother was a just standing there as Kagami wielded his long retractable sword. Chuutarou didn't move, Soramaru's dream self was frozen in place, unable to help. Shirasu came to the rescue, but was cut down quickly._

_Kagami returned his murderous gaze to Chuutarou and his blades lashed out without mercy. Tenka wasn't there to save him this time._ Soramaru woke up, drenched in sweat, shivering. He covered his face with his hands, trying to calm down. Tears mixed with is sweat. _I have to get home! Chuutarou could be in danger._

When his breathing finally returned to normal, he found his old clothes and his swords on the nightstand next to his bed. He was excited to have something familiar. After he changed, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" He called. Sakura came in, carrying a folder that was bulging with papers. "Morning!" She said, cheerily. Soramaru responded with the same word. Sakura cut to the chase,"If you're interested, we think we found the location of the portal." Soramaru had been pulling the sheets on the bed tighter when Sakura brought it up, his surprise led him to tear the blanket off the bed. "Huh?" He asked, excited.

She nodded,"We're almost sure we found it, but it might be awhile before we can really look into it. On top of that, your condition is still not well enough to travel." Soramaru smiled, as long as there was a chance of getting home, he would wait a hundred years. Sakura led Soramaru to breakfast outside of the hospital. It was his first time in a long time eating real food.

After breakfast, he found a training ground to practice his swords. All of his swings felt weak and wobbly, so unlike what they used to feel like. He cringed inwardly at the words his master would have yelled at him.

Naruto or Sakura was around him whenever he was not in his hospital room. The village still didn't trust him. He didn't mind, it was protocol, after all. Shirasu had once mentioned that ninjas are taught from the beginning not to trust. _Then why did you trust us, Shirasu?_ He thought. The village may not have trusted him, but there were a select few people who did. Why would they trust an outsider like him? He wasn't from the village, he wasn't even a ninja. So, why were a few of these people so open?

He felt like he was in a major debt to the Leaf Village. The village was the home to the kind people who had helped him, despite being an outsider. He knew that he would be eternally grateful to this place. His days were spent doing whatever public service that he could find. Although, there was little he could do,he would do his best to assist the leaf village in any way he could.


	14. Chapter 14

Soramaru didn't get out of bed after the next week. His body ached all over, even more than it used to when Tenka used to "train" him. His headache was back, tenfold. Sakura had been in charge of taking care of him and she panicked over the recent developments. Naruto worried, and Sakura was almost always by his side.

Normally, he would have forced himself out of bed to face the world, but ever since Sakura detected a fever, she kept an almost constant eye on him. One time he had tried to get past her, feigning perfect health, and it had worked. That is until her arm barely brushed his, she felt his fever heat, and her fist was crashing down onto his head. A lump grew on the spot where she had hit him. "What was that for?" He asked as he rubbed his doubly aching head.

"Go back to bed, right now." Sakura said, as a terrifying red aura engulfed her body. "Yes ma'am." Soramaru said in a small voice before returning to his hospital bed.

Her medicines did little to relieve the pain. Sakura dropped books off to help Soramaru entertain himself, but he was unable to read the characters in the writing of the Hidden Leaf Village. Waves of pain rolled over him whenever he heard the slightest sounds. Sleep brought nothing but nightmares.

Another week passed and most of the symptoms died down. Sakura finally allowed Soramaru to walk around the village again. The sun's light was blocked by clouds now. Soramaru missed the brightness. As he strolled around the village, he heard constant murmurs of a string of attacks on civilians. This caught him off guard, because despite the fact that the Hidden Leaf was a village of ninjas, he kind of felt like it was a nice, safe place.

That night, he was awakened by a tearing pain. He was in bed, gritting his teeth in the darkness. He felt like his skin was slowly being peeled off his abdomen. In his curiosity, he touched belly. He didn't feel skin, what he felt was a scaly texture. Not human. Soramaru's breaths came out in short, shallow gasps. He stumbled out of his bed and flipped on the lights. He lifted his shirt to examine what he had felt. All he could do was stare in horror at the slowly forming midnight scales on his body.

His master had said that Tenka was not really the Orochi's vessel. Now he understood that it was him... The assaults, it had been him who had committed them. He crumpled to his knees. What was he supposed to do? He was supposed to die.

If he didn't, bodies would pile up and this village that he had come to love would be plunged into devastation. He curled into a ball, he wasn't ready to die. Really, he had so much that he wanted to do, so many people that he wanted to see again. _Is this what you felt, Tenka?_ He wondered in his mind. Is this what Tenka felt before allowing himself to be killed?

The memories that were locked away came rushing back all at once. They came back so quickly, he felt like a physical force had slammed into his head. He could see everything, the shed blood, the people limp on the ground. He caused that. He knew he had to do something to stop the pain, and he knew what he had to do.

_I'm not ready_, he thought, trying to hold in the tears that were forcing their way through his shut eyelids. He squeezed his eyes more tightly shut, tears trailing down his cheeks. He opened his eyes, "Neither was Tenka." He said aloud to himself.


	15. Chapter 15

He raced through the empty streets of Konoha, he had to find Naruto. He did remember, vaguely, where Naruto lived. The way to his apartment was longer than he remembered. The scales were spreading,they burned now. Every second that they spread, a new wave of pain rolled over his body. He bit back his screams as he ran.

Soramaru was finally at Naruto's front door, banging furiously. Naruto appeared in pajamas with a nightcap on his head. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" The blond said, staring at Soramaru through heavy eyelids. Soramaru pushed past Naruto and stood a bit away from the door.

Naruto's eyes changed, they were wide with concern now and almost totally awake. "What's going on?" He asked. Soramaru couldn't answer due to his shortness of breath. In response he pulled up his shirt to reveal the scales on his body. "Kill me." He said, shakily. "Those attacks, happened because of this." He said, gesturing to the scales.

Naruto shuddered. "Look, I'm not gonna kill you. If you ask me to do something like that, I think I deserve an explanation." Soramaru nodded, he could feel that he didn't have much time. He was asking Naruto because he didn't have the courage nor the supplies to carry it out himself.

He tried to explain. His breathing was still shallow and unsteady. When he finally got his breath under control, the scales overtook him. Every organ in his body felt like it was exploding. Cries of pain piled up, one on top to the other in his throat. His teeth sharpened painfully and punctured the dark scaly skin of his lower lip. The most painful part of all was the knowledge that he was no longer in control of his body. Soramaru, the real Soramaru, couldn't do a thing as his body took a step. He couldn't fight back as a deep, menacing roar escaped from his lungs. He was thankful when the world around him went black.

**Hey! Sorry it took so long to post this! Life has kept me busy! Aside from the experiment scenes this was one of the most difficult parts of this fanfiction to write. Sadly, I am almost done with this story. =( But on the bright side I planned out a sequel! =) So, I hope everyone is enjoying this. Please comment. And also one question, who is your favorite Kumoh brother? Please comment, every comment means a lot!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello! Since chapter 15 was so short I decided to post two in one day. Really I'm also very excited with my ideas for the sequel. So I hope you enjoy!**

When Soramaru came to, his arms were tied securely to his sides. He was in a dank prison cell. His body ached and his head continued to throb. He was lying down on the floor, which considering that his previous prison was a tank, was not that bad. He didn't make any attempt to move or figure an escape plan. He remembered what had happened, the blood of the people he attacked, Naruto's refusal to kill him, and his world going blank.

The ropes dug into his arms and the stone floor scraped any exposed skin, but he was grateful for these things. They were keeping him contained, they were restricting his ability to hurt anyone else. He sat there for a while, he still hadn't gotten estimating time down, so he didn't know for how long.

Eventually, Sakura entered the prison room. She had dark circles rimming her eyes and a sour look on her face. "Hey," She said, her voice several times less welcoming than it normally was. " Everyone wants to know what the deal is." He didn't sense any anger or bitterness in her tone, just confusion, and a majority of fatigue. Without any other words, she opened his cell and gently pulled him to his feet. She walked him through a maze of hallways and stopped at a simple, well lit office.

A woman with two blond pigtails down her back and a strange diamond mark on her forehead sat at a large desk. Everyone who rescued him also filled the room. With the admiration on Sakura's face, he assumed that this woman was her master and the leader of the Hidden Leaf. "I'll just cut to the chase with this," She began authoritatively."What happened?" All eyes looked at Soramaru. The Hokage's, intense. Sakura's, thoughtful. Sai's, blank. Kakashi's, interested, but still a bit indifferent. Naruto's, his eyes were a bit more complicated to read, he had almost a knowing look, maybe even... understanding.

Soramaru took a steadying breath in. To tell them everything was a long story, but he did it anyway. He could have left the part of his parents being killed, of meeting the man responsible, of losing Tenka, of not smiling for a week, of taking in Nishiki. He included everything. His words spilled out, falling over one another. "And I am the vessel." He concluded. There was silence, not an awkward silence, not a stunned silence, just a silence. Naruto broke it. "I knew something was up. I could tell from the moment we walked into that lab." Everyone looked at him. "I thought I sensed a jinjuriki. Look," He said, taking a step closer to Soramaru. "You can learn how to control this thing, I used to have trouble controlling the nine tails, and I still do sometimes. But nothing is impossible."

The Kumoh cocked his head. He didn't know what a jinjuriki was, but he understood what Naruto was saying. He would have agreed to any help that Naruto would have offered. The hokage shook her head. "No, if the story he told us is true, the Orochi is not something that can be controlled. He's a vessel, not a jinjuriki, there is a difference." Naruto stared at her and seemed outraged.

"Come on, Grandma Tsunade! You said that I couldn't learn the Rasengan in a week, and I did it. So, controlling this tailed beast or whatever it is totally possible!" Naruto said, raising his voice. She shook her head again. She looked straight at Naruto. "The nine tails in you is different. It was placed in you by people. this boy's case is almost a completely different matter." She turned to look Soramaru straight in the eye. He could feel her intense authority and power just by hearing her speak and feeling her eyes on his. "The Orochi chose him. It's like a parasite, it chooses its host rather than being controlled. It is uncontrollable." Soramaru's heart sank. Deep down he knew what would have to happen.

Out of no where, the hokage produced long poison needles. She readied her arm to hurl them at Soramaru. Then, Naruto was in front of him, his arms outstretched. His body protecting Soramaru from the needles. Now there was a stunned silence. "What are you doing, Naruto?!" The hokage yelled. Naruto kept his position as human shield and answered. "It's not his fault if he's a vessel. Just like how it's not my fault that I'm the nine tails can't kill him."

Tsunade bit her lip. Normally she wouldn't be too hesitant to protect the village, but her mind flashed back to a certain moment in time. Naruto had just mastered the Rasengan and was lying passed out on the ground. Orochimaru came at him with a sword and Tsunade had gotten in front and took the blow. That was almost exactly what Naruto had been doing, only this time, she was the one acting like Orochimaru. It made her sick, being anything like that man who betrayed the village that she was protecting.

She put the needles on her desk and sighed. "Then what do you propose we do?" She questioned.

**I felt like some suspense at the end of this chapter would be good. The next chapter will be the last. So will conclude my very first fanfiction. When I started writing this I was trilled to combine my two favorite animes. Speaking of which, question: Between ****_Naruto_**** and ****_Donten ni Warau (Laughing Under the Clouds_****(the title I first knew it by)), which is your favorite?**


	17. Chapter 17

Soramaru was keeping pace with the group pretty well. He wasn't totally out of breath, and there wasn't much soreness. Sakura had mentioned that the portal he entered through was located. Now, they were going back to it.

Sakura had voted against their current plan, making it clear that Soramaru could very well be killed in the process of sending him home, but the Hokage had used her veto power, declaring that he could also survive the journey between worlds and it had to be done for the safety of the village. He was willing to deal with those odds. If he died, the Orochi would too.

The portal was a a bit far away. To ninja standards it was almost unbelievably close, five and a half miles from the village. Normally the distance would be short for Soramaru as well, but being bedridden for a week did not make the journey easy for him. Still the portal, although bound to one place was hard to track, not a very certain location.

For Soramaru's sake they took a few breaks. "Count on Orochimaru and Kabuto to make something so hard to get to ." Naruto said after taking a swig of water. Soramaru got the feeling that he was not just referencing the portal. "Well, if you're going home, some people will be really relieved to have you back. I'm sure that-"

"Naruto." Soramaru interrupted quietly. Naruto stopped talking and looked at Soramaru. The Kumoh's head was down, hiding his eyes. "Thank you for defending me." This thought had been lingering in the back of his mind the whole trip. "But, there's a good chance that my swordsmanship master will kill me when I get there. The Yamainu was made to take down the Orochi. I love my home and the people there. If there is only one way to keep them safe,I'll do it, gladly." Somehow, he couldn't feel okay with leaving before that was off his chest. Naruto nodded. He understood. He would do the same for the leaf village if he had to, after all he wanted to be hokage and it was a hokage's job to keep the village out of harm's way.

They got up and continued on their path to the portal. No words were exchanged on the way there. The silence weighed on them, and was practically tangible. Soramaru traveled in the middle so the ninjas could knock him out in case he lost himself at any given moment.

A glowing circle of all colors rested hidden in a bush. "This is it." Sakura said in a hushed voice. They stared at it. At it's center, Soramaru could see a small picture of the forest in Shiga. He could see the birds fly and past a few trees, he could see the tip of the shrine's roof top. "Well," Soramaru began, unsure of what to say. "Thank you." Then, "Good bye." He took a step toward the portal, about to step through when a hand on his shoulder pulled him backwards.

"Listen, Sora," Naruto said. "I understand what you have to do, but promise me that you'll at least see if there's another way." Soramaru promised. Sakura took off her backpack she carried and handed it to him. " We made a map from the portal to the hidden leaf. If you're ever around, you could always come back to visit. I packed some medicine that might help you, and some survival supplies, in case the portal was a long ways away from your home." She said. Soramaru thanked them again and stepped into the portal.

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.

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Travelling between dimensions was a tricky business. Soramaru tumbled over and over. His stomach lurched. When he managed to open his eyes when he was in the portal, they stung. He ended up curling into a ball and hoping he wouldn't puke. The immense and terrifying thrill of weightlessness made him feel sick, there were times that he was surprised that he didn't die of fright right then and there.

The ride ended with him making hard contact with the solid packed earth. The shock and joy of feeling the ground again left him lying on his stomach in awe. He got to his knees and brushed himself off. He wanted to remember this spot. He knew that he was close to the shrine, so he searched the bag that Sakura had given him. A kunai was lying on top of a neatly folded blanket. He stuck the knife deep into the ground to mark the portal. He would remember, if he lived.

Soramaru suddenly realized that he didn't have the luxury of time. He went running to find Sousei. Once again, something deep in his heart twinged at the thought of dying. Naruto had reminded him of how much he wanted to live, but he wanted Shiga to live more than anything. So he made his way to Yamainu headquarters. (Continue with episode 10)

The End  
**So concludes my very first fanfiction! I hope everyone liked it, I had a great time writing it. I have gotten a sequel started. It's called _The Shadows They Carry_. So anyway, please review! Thank you for reading ****_Darkening Clouds Sunny Skys!_**

**KEEP LAUGHING!-**** Soramaru and Tenka Kumoh**


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